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This is Volume One of The Army Air Forces in World War II, titled Plans and Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942, edited by Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate. The University of Chicago Press first published it in 1948, and the Office of Air Force History reprinted it in 1983. The front matter explains how the AAF historical program was set up during the war. The index covers Pacific, Atlantic and European operations, and nothing in the text concerns unidentified aerial phenomena.
“Pacific Ocean”16 pages
L O S S O F N E T H E R L A N D S E A S T I N D I E S severely damaged. T w o days later, one LB-30 was burned on the ground at Jogjakarta and four B - I ~ D ’ sat Pasirian, a dispersal point some thirty miles south of Soerabaja. O n 24 February, in a severe attack on the depot at Bandoeng, three more B-17’s were destroyed.86 It was still possible for heavy bomber reinforcements to reach Java, but unless something could be done to strengthen local air defenses, obviously there was little point in further attempts to build up the bomber command. Indeed, it had been apparent to the Allied command since the fall of Singapore that, barring some unexpected development, the Indies were lost, and by this date the evacuation of Java was already under way. T o local commanders the best opportunity to continue the fight against the Japanese seemed to lie in Burma, where pilots of the already famous A V G had joined the R A F in resisting the enemy’s push toward Rangoon, an advance which carried the threat of cutting off China from all outside aid. With Australian pickets above New Guinea already driven in, and with the sea and air routes to the Philip- pines effectively closed except to an occasional blockade-runner, sub- marine, or long-range bomber flight, an effort to hold open a line of communications with China appeared to offer the only hope of bring- ing Allied offensive power to bear on the inner defenses of Japan’s now swollen empire at a relatively early date. O n 18 February, Gen- eral Brett advised the War Department that from his point of view the one chance of overcoming the odds against the Allies was to launch an offensive through Burma and China. At the same time, he advised that we should build up strength in Au~tralia.’~Already he had sent Colonel Brady to Burma, and upon receiving his report, Brett determined to “send the mass of all troops” and 160 pursuit planes to India.8s Thinking in terms of the establishment of an Amer- ican command there, on his own initiative he directed Brereton to proceed to India and made tentative plans to follow after a brief return to Au~tralia.’~Accordingly, in the early morning of 2 3 Feb- ruary, General Brett flew to Melbourne, and on the following day Brereron and a small staff of officers left Java in two heavy bombers for India.” O n 2 3 February, General Wave11 also received orders to leave Java. Three days earlier the Combined Chiefs in Washington had favored a last-ditch defense with all forces then on the island and advised that there should be no withdrawal of the forces of any nationality but, 395
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